Based on analysis of multiple outside rankings, Walz is a more moderate left of center Democratic Party vote. As a result, he may break with the Democratic Party line more than his fellow members.

Biography

Walz was born in 1964 in West Point, NE. After graduating from public high school in Butte, NE, Walz went on to earn his B.S at Chadron State College and his M.S. at Minnesota State University in 1989 and 2001, respectively, having also attended Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. Prior to his political career, Walz worked as a school teacher. He also served in the Army National Guard and is a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom.[2]

Career

Below is an abbreviated outline of Walz's professional and political career:[2]

Nebraska Army National Guard, 1981-1996

Minnesota National Guard, 1996-2005

U.S. House of Representatives, 1st Congressional District of Minnesota, 2007-Present

Issues

Legislative actions

113th Congress

The second session of the 113th Congress enacted into law 114 out of the 3,036 introduced bills (3.8 percent). Comparatively, the 112th Congress had 4.2 percent of introduced bills enacted into law in the second session.[5] For more information pertaining to Walz's voting record in the 113th Congress, please see the below sections.[6]

National security

American response in Syria

More than 100 House lawmakers signed a letter urging President Barack Obama to call Congress back into session if he planned to use military force in Syria.[7]

Rep. Scott Rigell wrote in the letter in August 2013, “engaging our military in Syria when no direct threat to the United States exists and without prior congressional authorization would violate the separation of powers that is clearly delineated in the Constitution.”[7][8]

The members of Congress believed that Obama should have asked Congress for permission before engaging in Libya. The letter asked, “If the use of 221 Tomahawk cruise missles, [sic] 704 Joint Direct Attack Munitions, and 42 Predator Hellfire missiles expended in Libya does not constitute ‘hostilities,’ what does?”[8]

The letter stated, “If you deem that military action in Syria is necessary, Congress can reconvene at your request. We stand ready to come back into session, consider the facts before us, and share the burden of decisions made regarding U.S. involvement in the quickly escalating Syrian conflict."[8]

National Defense Authorization Act

Walz voted in support of HR 1960 - the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014. The bill passed the House on June 14, 2013, with a vote of 315 - 108. Both parties were somewhat divided on the vote.[9]

Department of Homeland Security Appropriations

walz voted in opposition of HR 2217 - the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2014. The bill passed the House on June 6, 2013, with a vote of 245 - 182 and was largely along party lines.[9]

Walz voted against the Farm Bill on July 11, 2013. The bill passed in a 216-208 vote.[11] The bill passed included farm policy, but did not include food stamps.[12]

Immigration

Morton Memos Enforcement Prohibition

Walz voted against House Amendment 136 - Prohibits the Enforcement of the Immigration Executive Order. The amendment was adopted by the House on June 6, 2013, with a vote of 224 - 201. The purpose of the amendment as stated on the official text is to "prohibit the use of funds to finalize, implement, administer, or enforce the Morton Memos." These memos would have granted administrative amnesty to certain illegal aliens residing in the United States.[13] The vote largely followed party lines.[14]

Healthcare

Repealing Obamacare

Walz has voted against all attempts to repeal or delay the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.[15]

Social issues

Violence Against Women Act

Walz voted to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act which provides aid to prosecute cases of violent acts against women and men.[16]

Abortion

Walz voted against HR 1797 - Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The resolution passed the House on June 18, 2013, with a vote of 228 - 196. The purpose of the bill is to ban abortions that would take place 20 or more weeks after fertilization.[17]

Previous congressional sessions

Specific votes

Rep. Walz voted for the stimulus bill.[18] A total of 57% of U.S. voters believe that the stimulus has either hurt the economy (36%) or had no impact (21%). Only 38% believe the stimulus helped the economy. [19]

Walz also voted in favor of the "Cash for Clunkers" bill.[20] According to a June 2009 Rasmussen Reports poll, 54% of likely U.S. voters opposed Cash for Clunkers, while 35% supported it.[21]

Walz supported the "Cap and Trade" bill.[22] Just after the bill’s passage, 42% of likely U.S. voters said that cap and trade would hurt the economy, while 19% believed it would help. Only 15% said that the bill would have no impact.[23]

Finally, Walz voted in favor of the health care reform bill.[24] A total of 57% of likely voters at least somewhat favor repeal of the health care reform bill, including 46% who strongly favor repeal. Only 35% of likely voters oppose repeal. A total of 51% of likely voters believe the health care reform bill will be bad for the country, while 36% believe it will be beneficial.[25]

Fiscal Cliff

Walz voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was 1 of 172 Democrats that voted in favor of the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257-167 vote on January 1, 2013.[26]

Campaign themes

2012

Tackling the Debt

Excerpt: "Tim believes we need to confront the national debt in a responsible way that does not harm the economy. By taking a balanced approach that includes cutting wasteful programs, finding more efficiency, closing tax loopholes and bringing more fairness to our tax system, we can responsibly and collectively solve our debt problem."[27]

Time Walz, "Goals"

The Walz Bipartisan Energy Plan

Excerpt: "The plan increases offshore oil drilling in the short term in a responsible way, and invests the royalty payments made by oil companies for the new offshore drilling to fund renewable energy research, infrastructure renewal, conservation, and environmental restoration – all without raising taxes."[28]

Revitalizing Our Economy to Work for Middle Class Families

Excerpt: "Tim has fully supported the growth and protection of the backbone of our economy: the middle class. It’s imperative we grow our economy and allow small-businesses the ability to create and expand jobs. This, along with putting money directly in middle class family’s pockets who will spend it at their grocery stores or use it to fix their homes, will help us tackle our long-term debt."[29]

Full history

To view the full congressional electoral history for Tim Walz, click [show] to expand the section.

2010

On November 2, 2010, Tim Walz (D) won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Randy Demmer (R), Steven Wilson (I) and Lars Johnson (Party Free) in the general election.[35]

U.S. House, Minnesota District 1 General Election, 2010

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Democratic

Tim Walzincumbent

49.3%

122,365

Republican

Randy Demmer

44%

109,242

Independent

Steven Wilson

5.3%

13,242

Party Free

Lars Johnson

1.2%

3,054

N/A

Write-in

0%

102

Total Votes

248,005

2008

On November 4, 2008, Tim Walz (D) won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Brian J. Davis (R) and Gregory Mikkelson (I) in the general election.[36]

U.S. House, Minnesota District 1 General Election, 2008

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Democratic

Tim Walzincumbent

62.5%

207,753

Republican

Brian J. Davis

32.9%

109,453

Independent

Gregory Mikkelson

4.5%

14,904

N/A

N/A

0.1%

290

Total Votes

332,400

2006

On November 7, 2006, Tim Walz (D) won election to the United States House. He defeated Gil Gutknecht (R) in the general election.[37]

U.S. House, Minnesota District 1 General Election, 2006

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Democratic

Tim Walz

52.7%

141,556

Republican

Gil Gutknecht

47.1%

126,486

N/A

Write-in

0.1%

379

Total Votes

268,421

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Walz is available dating back to 2006. Based on available campaign finance records, Walz raised a total of $8,168,451 during that time period. This information was last updated on May 16, 2013.[38]

Lifetime voting record

According to the website GovTrack, Walz missed 45 of 5,229 roll call votes from Jan 2007 to Apr 2013, which is 0.9% of votes during that period. This is better than the median of 2.2% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving.[46]

Congressional Staff Salaries

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Walz paid his congressional staff a total of $973,195 in 2011. He ranked 60th on the list of the lowest paid Democratic representative staff salaries and ranked 232nd overall of the highest paid representative staff salaries in 2011. Overall, Minnesota ranked 26th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.[47]

Net worth

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Walz' net worth as of 2011 was estimated between -$265,991 and $369,996. This averages to $52,002, which is a -0.7899% increase since 2010. This is lower than the $7,859,232.16 average net worth for Democratic representatives in 2011.[48]

2010

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Walz's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $-102,992 and $597,996. That averages to $247,502, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic representatives in 2010 of $4,465,875.[49]

National Journal vote ratings

Each year, National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted, as compared to other members, in the previous year. More information about the analysis process can be found on the vote ratings page.

2012

According to the data released in 2013, Walz was ranked the 150th most liberal representative during 2012.[50]

2011

According to the data released in 2012, Tim Walz was ranked the 161st most liberal representative during 2011.[51]

Voting with party

June 2013

Tim Walz voted with the Democratic Party 89.1% of the time, which ranked 176th among the 201 House Democratic members as of June 2013.[52]

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a google news search for the term Tim + Walz + Minnesota + Legislature

All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.